Carolina Routs Outmanned Ucf

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The University of North Carolina, the winningest college basketball team of the 1980s, added Central Florida to its collection of defeated opponents Saturday afternoon.

With blanketing man-to-man defense and overwhelming height, the 12th-ranked Tar Heels rolled over UCF, 92-42, in their home opener before an unsurprised crowd of 16,280 at the Dean Smith Center. Except for the first three minutes, they were every bit as dominating as the score suggests.

North Carolina led by 24 points at halftime and scored eight of the second half's first 10 points to end its two-game losing streak in its first meeting with UCF.

''I'm just happy to be back on the winning end again. We're happy to be in December. We're 1-0 in December,'' said North Carolina Coach Dean Smith, whose Tar Heels have a record of 284-65 in the '80s for a .814 winning percentage, best in Division I.

''I know we weren't playing Alabama-type of personnel or Missouri-type of personnel, but I was excited about how we played defense,'' Smith said.

The Tar Heels (3-2) played it actively, prompting UCF into 28 turnovers and 31.4 percent field-goal shooting - 24.2 percent in the second half. Their belly-to-belly posturing made even the most basic passes to the wing difficult for UCF's guards, who were instructed to keep the tempo slow.

Unfortunately for UCF (1-2), which plays Tulsa on Monday in the second game of its two-game road trip, a slow pace did not convert to a controlled pace. The Tar Heels scored on six breakaway layups in the first half.

Although the Knights were beaten, they were not intimidated. One of the few positives from their worst defeat since last year's 54-point loss to Florida State was their start.

Bob Blackwood opened the game with a 3-point shot, and his driving baseline jumper three minutes later gave UCF an 8-7 lead. It was its last.

''We won the first three minutes, and we're proud of that,'' UCF Coach Joe Dean said. ''We're going to build on that. North Carolina has about 75 years on us. Obviously we're not the same caliber team as North Carolina, but we hope this will help us when we play other teams of this caliber.''

Trailing, 8-7, the Tar Heels went on a 30-6 run, aided in largely by five consecutive turnovers by UCF. Hubert Davis scored 11 of his team-high 14 points during the spurt.

Tommy Tormohlen's 16-footer cut UNC's margin to 44-20 at halftime.

Everybody on both teams played in the second half. UCF endured a five-minute scoreless streak, and Carolina simply kept running its passing offense. Haunted by the 3-point shot in their two losses, the Tar Heels made 10-of-21 Saturday, most over UCF's zone.

Ken Leeks led UCF with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Blackwood added 10 on an off shooting day (4-of-12).

''At least they officials let us play,'' Leeks said. ''Those great big guys pushed, but they let us push back. I liked that. Now we need to start pushing people.''